Free doughnuts! And other hacks from the internet’s best savers

There are two kinds of people that will read this article. You’ve either heard of OzBargain, or you haven’t.

If you haven’t let us paint a picture:

Imagine a sub-culture of people whose lives revolve around saving money. Obsessed might be too light a word for some, instead, it’s a way of life. Almost, a cult.

Members are aggressively frugal. Before spending money, they consult OzBargain. Before working out how to spend the money, they consult OzBargain. And after they saved money, they consult OzBargain on how to spend or invest it.

It is simply a website for bargains in Australia, hence OzBargain.

A friend, who is in deep, tells us:

“If you achieve an ‘OzBargain’ level of discount, you know you have a really, really good deal.”

For the rest of us, being that diligent about saving money or getting that one-off spectacular deal (by spending hours trawling the forum or monitoring sites for cheap deals) might cause more stress than it’s worth.

To you we recommend finding that friend who is obsessed, and telling them what you want. They’ll find you a good deal.

Like this guy:

“It’s addictive, never want to miss out on that special deal that could be gone within minutes of posting! (Like my $500 macbook air that is coming).”

Or this dude:

“Two reasons: the chance of finding that ultimate bargain – like the Air Asia business class deal, and the hatred of knowing I could have paid less for something.”

According to Roy Morgan research over 1 million Australians visit online shopping bargain websites such as Groupon, Catch and OzBargain in an average four weeks. Though they also said a significant proportion did not follow through with a purchase.

So how can the rest of us get the most out of OzBargain?

First, free food!

If you were on Ozbargain on May 28, chances are you found yourself a free burger for Hamburger Day (yes a thing).

Practice restraint

It’s addictive. While researching this story, I found myself down a rabbit hole of great deals including a new set of Japanese stainless steel knives, planning a holiday on bargain flights and contemplating new health insurance.

The killer combination of time sensitive deals and the idea you’re saving money can easily lead to over-spending. Be careful.

Be specific

Our OzBargain obsessed friend tells us to only look for things you need or are in the market for, otherwise, tell yourself you’re dreaming.

The Best Deals Ever

Some deals are so good they are frequently referenced in the OzB halls of fame.

Up there with the best was the vaunted $180 for 12 bottles of wine, flights to Sydney and two nights accommodation. It sounded so good to the original poster, he made up a poem.